Guitar Technique Tip of the Month

Your Personal Guitar Lesson

This month's technique tip video is like having a guitar lesson with me! Pick up your guitar, hit play, and follow along with me as I explain a neat way to learn how to control the loudness of notes within an interval or chord. Hit the pause button frequently to follow along step by step.

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INTERVAL AND CHORD BALANCE UPDATE

By Douglas Niedt

Copyright Douglas Niedt. All Rights Reserved. This article may be reprinted, but please be considerate and give credit to Douglas Niedt.

A few years ago, I wrote a four-part technique tip about how to balance the notes (volume-wise) in an interval or chord. The articles are still good. They are still accurate. However, one of my students came up with another way to practice this technique, and it is a little different from what I recommended. I think it's a great way to practice and some may find it works better for them than my practice method. So, this is an update to those articles.

This video is really like having a guitar lesson with me. Pick up your guitar, hit play, and try out this practice method as I explain it step-by-step. Be sure to hit the pause button frequently.

Below is a list of topics I cover and the time code for each. Later, if you want to refer to a particular spot in the video, you will be able to find it quickly.

How to play the thumb loud and the fingers quietly. Example: Prelude No. 1 (Heitor Villa-Lobos). 00:00

How to keep the thumb quiet while simultaneously playing a note loud with a finger. Example: Saltarello a.k.a. La Volta). 06:17

How to bring out the middle note of a three-note chord. Example: Andante Religioso from La Catedral (Agustin Barrios). 11:02

How to bring out any note of a four-note chord. Example: a C dominant ninth chord. 14:48

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